Posts Tagged ‘Eric Frank Russell’

Library Addition: Eric Frank Russell’s Wasp

Sunday, March 5th, 2023

Really enjoyed this when I read this a while back, and I tracked down a nice affordable first.

Russell, Eric Frank. Wasp. Avalon Books, 1957. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bend at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with one 1/2″ closed tear are top rear head, and tiny bit of wrinkling on bottom front edge near heel, and just the barest traces of dust soiling to an otherwise bright white dust jacket. Military SF adventure novel of a spy sent to a hostile alien planet to bring down the government through psychological and guerilla warfare, like a wasp crashing a car by attacking the driver. Bought from a notable UK dealer for £200 plus shipping.

Library Addition: Eric Frank Russell’s Somewhere A Voice

Sunday, October 23rd, 2022

Another purchase from that British book dealer:

Russell, Eric Frank. Somewhere A Voice. Dennis Dobson, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a small Foyle’s stickler on inside front cover under flap in a Near Fine- dust jacket with a 3/4″ split to bottom of front fold (and faint associated crease to front), a nail-head sized semi-closed circular chip to rear spine join near head, slight age darkening to edges of white portion of jacket, a faint, intermittant line of rubbing near right front cover edge, and slight foxing to blind side of dust jacket spine, otherwise a fairly bright example of the dust jacket. Short story collection. Currey, page 424. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy III, page 70. Bought from a notable UK book dealer for £32.

I enjoyed Wasp enough that I think I should pick up some more Russell.

Library Additions: Six Random Firsts

Tuesday, August 7th, 2018

Still more books from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale:

  • (Aldiss, Brian)(Frank Hatherly, editor, with Margaret Aldiss and Malcom Edwards). A is for Brian: A 65th Birthday Present. Avernus, 1990. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with very slight wear at points. Signed by Aldiss. A festschrift put together by Aldiss’ friends, with tributes by J.G. Ballard, Michael Moorcock, Robert Silverberg, etc. Bought for £18 after discount. I also have festschrifts for John Clute (Polder) and Moorcock (Moorcock@60).

  • Gevers, Nick, editor. Postscripts 34/35: Breakout. PS Publishing, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Volume in the long-running anthology series. Includes two posthumous Steven Utley collaborations (among other works). Bought for £12 after discount.
  • Leiber, Fritz. The Pale Brown Thing. Swan River Press, 2016. First edition hardback, one of only 350 hardback copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket, with a postcard reprinting the cover of F&SF the story originally appeared in laid in. In addition to the story, there are extensive notes about how Leiber expanded the story into his novel Our Lady of Darkness. Bought for £16.80 after discount. There were plenty of scans of the dust jacket on the Internet, but none of the book itself, so the scan below shows the cover of the book itself (which, oddly enough, has no printing on the spine).

  • MacLeod, Ian R. Hector Douglas Makes a Sale. PS Publishing, 2011. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Signed by MacLeod. Freebie given away at the 2011 Eastercon to promote MacLeod’s forthcoming collection Wake Up and Dream. Bought for £3 after discount.

  • Russell, Eric Frank. Dark Tides. Bristol Press Dobson, 1962. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with two Australian ownership stamps (one for “McGill’s Agency Book Department;” possibly a literary agent’s copy) along with the number “2456” written in ink on the FFE and the same number written in ink on the half-title page, in a Near Fine- price-clipped dust jacket with wear at head, heel and points. Short story collection. Currey (1979), page 423. Bought for £30 after discount.

  • Reynolds, Alastair. Pushing Ice. Gollancz, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. One of the few Reynolds novels I didn’t manage to snag when it first came out. Bought for £24 after discount.
  • Books Read: Eric Frank Russell’s Wasp

    Sunday, June 20th, 2010

    Eric Frank Russell
    Wasp

    Despite being very obviously dated (the “aliens” in the book talk and act exactly like New Yorkers in the 1940s, and the agents of the evil alien government act exactly like Nazis), the book itself is still quite a bit of fun. It depicts the efforts of a single disguised human agent to destabilize an entire alien planet in preparation for an invasion. Anachronisms aside, this is a swift-moving novel that holds your attention, and if you’re looking for something short, old-fashioned and engrossing, this admirably fits the bill.